Bob, I drove a cab in the Bronx and Manhattan duringthe early 90s. It was
pretty simple I paid the daily rate to use the cab (started at $60 and I think
it was $90 by the time I stopped) and was paid 10 percent of my fares plus
tips. There wasn't any paid vacation or health insurance. If I was having a
good day and could hustle I could voer the cost of the car with my 10 percent
pay and my tips were the profit. Back then all that was required was a class E
chaufers license. Later on I got my "big break" and got the opportunity to
drive and work on tow trucks where there was still no health insurance but I
got two weeks vacation (same as I get now).
Frank
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bob Hachey
Sent: Sunday, July 19, 2015 10:24 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: uber fined in cal partially for violating ada
Hi Miriam and all,
No question about it; life is and has been deteriorating from a financial
perspective for the majority of Americans over the last 30 years. I'm
skeptical of how good working conditions are for the average traditional
taxi driver. I'd say that any guaranteed income is minimal and the bulk of
income is based upon tips and trips driven. I doubt that many taxi drivers
get paid vacation. They probably do get some sort of healthcare coverage. It
sounds like Frank was once a taxi driver; if so, then perhaps he can
enlighten us further. Already, from what he has said, working as a taxi
driver appears to be no picnic.
Information on the Uber site suggests that they are doing background checks
on their drivers. I would be interested in a comparative analysis of
background checks done by companies like Uber VS. those done by traditional
taxi companies.
Finally, I just learned this morning that the Massachusetts Attorney general
is looking into complaints against Uber for disability-related
discrimination. No question that local and state governments ought to be
vigorously investigating all such discrimination whether the perpetrator is
a ride sharing company like Lyft or Uber or a traditional taxi company.
Bob Hachey
